#bookkeeping
Bookkeeping
Modern bookkeeping techniques using plain-text and automated workflows
Opening Balance Equity: How to Set Up Books Mid-Year and Zero It Out
Opening Balance Equity is a temporary holding account that must read $0.00 once setup is done. This guide explains why it appears, how to set up books mid-year from a trial balance, and the exact journal entry to move the residual into Retained Earnings or Owner's Equity.
Opening Balances Done Right: Mid-Year Setup and Clearing the OBE Account
Opening Balance Equity is the suspense account accounting software creates to keep the balance sheet in balance during migration. Build a supportable opening trial balance, reconcile every account at the cutover date, then journal OBE into Retained Earnings, Owner's Capital, or Common Stock and Additional Paid-in Capital based on entity type.
Setting Up Owner's Equity Accounts: Tracking Contributions, Draws, and Retained Earnings the Right Way
Owner's equity is Assets minus Liabilities — the running total of contributions, draws, profit, and losses. This guide structures equity accounts for sole proprietors, partnerships, and LLCs, explains why draws are not expenses, and shows the year-end closing entries that keep a balance sheet in balance.
Personal Use of a Company Vehicle: Imputed Income and W-2 Reporting
Personal use of a company car is taxable wages. This guide compares the three IRS valuation methods — Annual Lease Value, cents-per-mile (72.5¢ for 2026), and the $1.50 commuting rule — with worked examples and W-2 reporting steps.
Quality of Earnings Reports: How Sellers Protect Their Price in a Business Sale
A Quality of Earnings report normalizes a company's earnings, reconciles them to cash, and tests every add-back. Sellers who commission their own QoE averaged a 7.4x EBITDA multiple versus 7.0x for those who did not.
Recording Sales Tax You Collect: A Liability, Not Revenue
Sales tax you collect belongs to the state, not your revenue line. Here are the journal entries, the month-end reconciliation routine, and the multi-state economic nexus rules that keep your books audit-ready.
Recording Sales Tax You Collect: A Liability, Not Revenue
Sales tax you collect belongs on the balance sheet as Sales Tax Payable, never on the income statement. Split each taxable sale into Sales Revenue and a tax liability, keep one account per jurisdiction, and reconcile so the payable zeroes out at filing time.
Sales Returns, Allowances, and Contra-Revenue Accounting: How to Record Refunds Without Inflating Your Gross Margin
A walkthrough of how to record sales returns, allowances, and discounts as contra-revenue accounts under ASC 606, including the refund liability journal entries, sales tax reversal, and the gross-margin effects most small businesses miss.
The SBA 8(a) Program in 2026: A Survival Guide to Federal Set-Asides After the Ultima Reset
A practical guide to qualifying for the SBA 8(a) Business Development Program in 2026 — the $850,000 personal net worth, $400,000 three-year average AGI, and $6.5 million asset caps, the post-Ultima social disadvantage standard, $7M and $4.5M sole-source thresholds, and how to survive the nine-year graduation clock without losing certification.
Section 45E After SECURE 2.0: How Small Employers Recoup 100% of Pension Plan Startup Costs on Form 8881
SECURE 2.0 turned Section 45E into a 100% refund of pension plan startup costs—up to $5,000 per year for three years—for employers with 50 or fewer employees, stacked with a per-employee contribution credit worth up to $1,000 and a $500 auto-enrollment credit, all claimed on Form 8881.
Section 530 Safe Harbor: How to Avoid IRS Back Payroll Taxes on 1099 Workers
Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 bars the IRS from collecting back employment taxes on misclassified contractors if a business met three tests—reporting consistency, substantive consistency, and a reasonable basis for treating the workers as 1099 contractors.
State Unclaimed Property and Escheat Reporting for Small Businesses: Dormancy Periods, Due Diligence Letters, and NAUPA Holder Reports
A practical guide for small businesses on identifying unclaimed property — uncashed vendor and payroll checks, customer credits, gift cards — applying state dormancy periods, mailing due diligence letters, and filing the NAUPA II holder report before Delaware or another state opens a contingency-fee audit.